Co-mingling decreases aggressive behaviour

Co-mingling litters during lactation affects piglets' social behaviour, by
primarily decreasing aggressive interactions during social challenges, as Purdue
University study shows.

The purpose of the study was to determine how co-mingling litters affected
piglets' pre-weaning growth, ear injuries, suckling behaviour and responses to
behavioural tests used to measure coping abilities.

Less
aggressionIt was shown that co-mingled piglets showed longer
latency for the first aggressive interaction, spent more time in proximity to
one another and performed less single bites than control piglets during the
social challenge. In addition, the duration and frequency of aggressive
interactions were lower in co-mingled piglets than control piglets. Co-mingling
did not affect the frequency of single head thrusts or oral-nasal contact, but
did tend to increase the frequency of escape attempts.

The results
suggest that co-mingling litters during lactation affects piglets' social
behaviour, by primarily decreasing aggressive interactions during social
challenges.